Last week's accidental shelling of a South Korean village occurred less than 20 miles from the border of the nuclear-armed North.

The U.S., which stations over 28,000 troops in South Korea, has joined its ally in their annual Freedom Shield exercise to strengthen interoperability with an eye on the North. Pyongyang fired multiple ballistic missiles in apparent warning as the drills kicked off Monday. It was the North Korean missile launch of 2025.